Related papers: The WAXS/WFXT Mission
The Constellation X-ray Mission is a high throughput X-ray facility emphasizing observations at high spectral resolution (E/\Delta E \sim 300-3000), and broad energy bandpass (0.25-40 keV). Constellation-X will provide a factor of nearly…
Galaxies are essential building blocks in the Universe. However they are faint and complex X-ray sources and require high performance instrumentation to be properly studied. Yet they are fundamental for our understanding of the Universe,…
We list here the contents of the Proceedings of the "Wide Field X-ray Telescope" conference held in Bologna, Italy on 25-26 Nov 2009. The conference highlighted the scientific potential and discovery space provided by an X-ray mission…
In this chapter, we briefly review the history of X-ray astronomy through its missions. We follow a temporal development, from the first instruments onboard rockets and balloons to the most recent and complex space missions. We intend to…
Recent advances in astronomical observations have ushered in an era of remarkable discoveries. We now probe the Universe through multi-messenger signals, image the sky with unprecedented depth and resolution, and investigate individual…
This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of high-mass X-ray binaries and ultra-luminous…
The Microchannel X-ray Telescope (MXT) will be the first focusing X-ray telescope based on a "Lobster-Eye" optical design to be flown on Sino-French mission SVOM. SVOM will be dedicated to the study of Gamma-Ray Bursts and more generally…
Wide-field multi-object spectroscopy is a high priority for European astronomy over the next decade. Most 8-10m telescopes have a small field of view, making 4-m class telescopes a particularly attractive option for wide-field instruments.…
We propose a new mission called Space Project for Astrophysical and Cosmological Exploration (SPACE) as part on the ESA long term planning Voyage 2050 programme. SPACE will study galaxy evolution at the earliest times, with the key goals of…
We report the first year on-orbit performance results for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), a NASA Small Explorer that is performing a survey of the sky in two ultraviolet bands. The instrument comprises a 50 cm diameter modified…
Sky survey telescopes and powerful targeted telescopes play complementary roles in astronomy. In order to investigate the nature and characteristics of the motions of very faint objects, a flexibly-pointed instrument capable of high…
This report describes the 2014 study by the Science Definition Team (SDT) of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission. It is a space observatory that will address the most compelling scientific problems in dark energy,…
Galaxies are key objects for the study of cosmology, the life cycle of matter, and stellar evolution. X-ray observations have given us a new key window into these building blocks of the Universe, that allows us to investigate their hot…
Thanks to the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), it is now widely recognized that fast X-ray timing can be used to probe strong gravity fields around collapsed objects and constrain the equation of state of dense matter in neutron stars.…
The Microchannel X-ray Telescope (MXT) is a compact and lightweight focusing X-ray telescope, which is part of the space payload of the SVOM mission. The main goal of the MXT instrument is to precisely localize and physically characterize…
This paper presents an overview of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies science case for the \textit{Single Aperture Large Telescope for Universe Studies} (SALTUS) far-infrared NASA probe-class mission concept. SALTUS offers enormous gains in…
With this paper we participate to the call for ideas issued by the European Space Agency to define the Science Program and plan for space missions from 2035 to 2050. In particular we present five science cases where major advancements can…
The paper describes the goals and first results of the ROSAT ESO Flux-Limited X-ray (REFLEX) Cluster Survey, a redshift survey of the X-ray brightest galaxy clusters in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey in the southern hemisphere conducted in the…
THESEUS is a medium size space mission of the European Space Agency, currently under evaluation for a possible launch in 2032. Its main objectives are to investigate the early Universe through the observation of gamma-ray bursts and to…
Here we extrapolate the idea of launching SpaceX's Starlink satellites and study the possibility of building planetary megastructures (either designed as solid objects or as a web of satellites) by Type-I civilizations and the consequent…